State Supreme Court redistricting proposal likely for special session
by Ed Anderson - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The chairman of the House redistricting committee said Friday he is "75 to 80 percent sure" he will have a bill ready to go at the upcoming special session to redraw the state's seven Supreme Court districts whether the court submits its own plan or not. Rep. Rick Gallot, D-Grambling, chairman of the House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs, said although the agenda for the session calls for redistricting the state's highest court and five circuit courts of appeal, the major attempts will focus on the Supreme Court and the Gretna-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeal. Gallot said that the seven-member Supreme Court has had its present districts unchanged since 1997 based on the 1990 census. According to the 2010 census, the districts range in size from 438,291 people in the Orleans-Jefferson District 7 to 791,281 in the Baton Rouge-anchored 5th District. He said although the courts are not subject to the laws that require districts to be as close in population size as possible, "there are some pretty wild population differences."